I lighted a candle while the lights were out and the gadgets off, offering a moment of silence to our Japanese brothers and sisters whose country has recently been ravaged by natural disasters. That’s hitting two birds with one stone. After that, Redh and I decided to talk about good times that happened in our childhood, in growing up into adults, and in being together for five long years. Okay, that’s three birds in one stone already. 🙂

I hope we could make this a monthly event. That would surely make Mother Nature happy so she won’t lash back at us often. What do you think?

While writing the earlier blog entry about the tragedy in Japan, this song was playing at the back of my head. Watch the heartwrenching photos below while listening to the song. (Photo credits: CBS News, msnbc, and NHK TV.)

My favorite place (next to the Philippines) has been struck by Mother Nature’s powerful sleight of hand. In minutes, one of the most orderly countries on earth has been reduced into an intricate picture of disarray. Just. Like. That.

Three days ago, our Japanese board mate approached us, saying he was going to give us his cooking utensils because he was going back to Japan. If I remember it right, he had been living in Cebu for roughly a year. When he first came, he was with his wife. But after a month or two, his wife probably returned to Japan because we no longer saw her.

We weren’t friends with this Japanese man. Just like acquaintances, we would nod or smile whenever we saw each other, but that’s that. Perhaps because we were hesitant he might not understand English that well, so it was also due to the language barrier. In fact, we only knew his name that day he gave us the cooking utensils.

Right there and then, we felt compelled to give him something in return–a parting gift that he could bring to his homeland. We wanted it to be something Filipino, something for him to remember the Philippines.

Coincidentally, earlier that day, we bought some FMCC (Francis Magalona Clothing Company) shirts. I bought my second FMCC shirt while Redh bought his first. We were very happy with our finds.

Needless to say, right off the bat, Redh told me he would give his newly bought shirt to Konnichiwa. (By the way, since we didn’t know his name yet, we just referred to him as Konnichiwa, a Japanese word for hello.) We finally got his real name and even his Facebook e-mail address after that. But in respect for his privacy, let’s just call him Konnichiwa.

I couldn’t be more proud of Redh after what he did.

The latest news we gathered on Konnichiwa is he is in Korea and was going to get a ticket to Japan hours before the quake happened.

My heart and prayers go out to him and to all our Japanese brothers and sisters who are hurting and trying to will their way through this horrendous tragedy. It surely is hard to move on past this with the many lives lost and properties damaged. But we shouldn’t lose faith in God. No matter how rough the road is, he is there to walk through it with us. Let’s continue to pray for Japan.

Here’s the design of the shirt Redh gave to Konnichiwa.

We told him the word kababayan means fellow man in English. Never did we think the shirt would sooner serve its purpose. I hope that when he looks at it, he would realize Japan is not alone. They have brothers and sisters in the Philippines and in other parts of the world who are praying for their well-being.

(This blog entry is my response to the news about the massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake that caused a tsunami and devastated Japan early today, March 11, 2011.)

This Sunday, March 6, is Master Rapper Francis Magalona’s second death anniversary. When he died in 2009, much to most Filipinos’ chagrin, I was one of the millions who cried for the loss of a very important music icon. And every time I hear the song “Kaleidoscope World,” I usually have difficulty forcing the tears back to their ducts.

It’s been two years since he left us, but his legacy continues to linger in each of our hearts through his patriotic songs that transcend through time. In times when I grow despondent and start to lose hope with our system, his songs serve as my picker-upper. I particularly have “Three Stars and a Sun” on repeat.

Talk about patriotism, the Man from Manila also created a clothing line before he passed, which is now managed by the Magalona family. They have really nice designs that you can check here. I got my first shirt at Robinsons Cebu last December, and I’m planning to get my second shirt sometime soon.

"Filipinize the whole world."

There are many ways to defend our mother country. We can start by supporting local brands.